As the result of a trip to Norway, I was inspired by the beautiful designs that were used in the knitting from Selbu, the home of the now famous “Selbu Mittens”. The museum in Selbu has some wonderful pieces of knitting history. This Christmas stocking incorporates a variation of “spider in the bough” with scroll work both at the top of the stocking and the toe. I saw many examples of these borders in the Selbu museum. They were used in hats, mittens, socks and sweaters.

Techniques used in this stocking include broken rib for the cuff at the top of the stocking, knitting with two colors at the same time, catching floats, working a flap heel, round toe and an I-cord hanging loop.

Made in a worsted weight yarn, this is a generously sized stocking with a finished size of about 17 inches around and 24 inches top to toe. My sample is worked in a heavy worsted weight but a finer yarn could be used to make a smaller stocking.

Yarn: Main Color - green 4oz/200yds, Contrast Color - white 3oz/150yds.

Needles: Size 8 circular -16 inches long and a set of size 8 double pointed needles for decreasing the toe.

Gauge: Worsted -- 17.5 sts per 4 inches. The gauge is not critical in this project but you will want a fairly tight, smooth fabric. If you knit very loosely try a smaller needle size. If you would like a smaller stocking choose a light worsted weight, sport, DK or fingering weight yarn and smaller needles to match those suggested by the yarn.